a. [ See Utility. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Of or pertaining to utility; consisting in utility; &unr_;iming at utility as distinguished from beauty, ornament, etc.; sometimes, reproachfully, evincing, or characterized by, a regard for utility of a lower kind, or marked by a sordid spirit; as, utilitarian narrowness; a utilitarian indifference to art. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Of or pertaining to utilitarianism; supporting utilitarianism; as, the utilitarian view of morality; the Utilitarian Society. J. S. Mill. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who holds the doctrine of utilitarianism. [ 1913 Webster ]

The utilitarians are for merging all the particular virtues into one, and would substitute in their place the greatest usefulness, as the alone principle to which every question respecting the morality of actions should be referred. Chalmers. [ 1913 Webster ]

But what is a utilitarian? Simply one who prefers the useful to the useless; and who does not? Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The doctrine that the greatest happiness of the greatest number should be the end and aim of all social and political institutions. Bentham. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The doctrine that virtue is founded in utility, or that virtue is defined and enforced by its tendency to promote the highest happiness of the universe. J. S. Mill. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The doctrine that utility is the sole standard of morality, so that the rectitude of an action is determined by its usefulness. [ 1913 Webster ]